Building hospitality employment pathways: thank you, Burges Salmon 

Bristol’s hospitality sector thrives when people, businesses and communities come together. That’s why we’re so grateful to Burges Salmon for hosting Bristol Good Food 2030’s recent Building Hospitality Employment Pathways event at the Burges Salmon Bristol office at One Glass Wharf. 

Bringing together 50 people from across sectors, the event created a space for employers, educators, training providers, community organisations, local government and aspiring workers to explore how we can make careers in hospitality more accessible, inclusive and rewarding. 

With recruitment, retention and access to careers among the challenges facing Bristol’s hospitality businesses, the day focused on moving from conversation to action. Through inspiring talks, facilitated discussions and collaborative workshops, participants shared experiences, explored barriers to employment and identified practical opportunities to strengthen connections between employers and the organisations supporting people into work. 

Crucially, the event created a welcoming space for different perspectives, including those of young people aspiring to work in hospitality. Hearing about the challenges they’re facing helped steer the discussion toward practical solutions. By working together, we can build pathways that better connect people with training, skills development and meaningful employment. 

More than a venue

This event is part of a wider story of collaboration between Burges Salmon and Bristol’s good food community. 

In 2025, Burges Salmon also hosted the Bristol Good Food 2030 Procurement Action Plan workshop, helping bring partners together to embed sustainable food procurement practices across public, private and third sector organisations. You can read the Bristol Good Food 2030 Action Plans 2025–27 to find out more about this important work. 

The firm has also supported community-led work through its collaboration with Heart of BS13 in 2023, demonstrating the value of connecting organisations with the communities they serve. 

There’s a strong food sustainability story here, too. Burges Salmon’s caterer, BaxterStorey, is achieving 92% of the Bristol Eating Better Award actions. These actions support healthier food choices and more sustainable catering, from helping customers become Sugar Smart to reducing food waste and increasing plant-based options. This is an important contribution to Bristol’s ambition to make good food accessible to everyone while reducing the environmental impact of our food system.  

Turning connections into change

The conversations and practical actions identified at the Building Hospitality Employment Pathways event will help shape the next steps, as we work together to improve recruitment and training pathways and create more opportunities for people to build fulfilling careers. 

We’d also like to thank Bristol Temple Quarter for funding and supporting the event, and everyone who gave their time, ideas and experiences so generously. 

Bristol Food Network is currently running a series of events with the Bristol BID bringing the hospitality sector together to tackle the challenges and opportunities that matter right now. These sessions focus on practical, real-world solutions, supporting businesses to run more resilient, responsible operations while staying commercially viable.  

Come and join us at the next one at the beautiful Harbour House as we explore how successful relationships between hospitality businesses and local suppliers can work. What motivates businesses to buy locally and sustainably, what the challenges are, and how to overcome them. 

We will host an open discussion on how best to future-proof our food system and support those working within it through a dynamic panel discussion featuring Ben Porter from Harbour House, Kate Ploughman from award winning Kate’s Kitchen and Tom Richardson from The Community Farm. Tuesday, 17 November 10-12. Book here.